So I've been living in Colorado the past 17 years or so and for several reasons am seriously considering relocating. I'm tired of the insane housing prices, lack of engineering industry in fields I'm interested in (power generation/energy conversion) and most of all serious lack of ethnic and cultural diversity. I spent a decent amount of time in the DFW and Wichita Falls areas for a previous job and enjoyed it, I also have a cousin living in Houston who I visited last August and I really enjoyed that city.
I'm going to start applying for jobs in TX here soon, top of my list is Bell-Textron they're hiring engineers of all levels to work on development of new jet engines for the VTOL military aircraft and they're located in Fort Worth.
I could go pretty much anywhere in the country with my professional background and education but it has to be somewhere diverse with a large Muslim community. The northern Midwest and Northeast are out because of the gloomy cold depressing weather (grew up in PA, don't plan on ever going back). California is gorgeous and tons of fun but it's out because of insane taxes/cost of living, obnoxiously liberal culture and super restrictive laws and regulations especially related to my two main hobbies (firearms and old vehicles).
I guess the reason I'm posting is what do y'all (tee hee) living in Texas think of it? Any advice for someone thinking of moving there? How is it in terms of outdoor activities, I'd like to still be able to go on an occasional hike and explore some nice natural areas. And I understand it's a gigantic state I realized that after having to travel between cities, 6 hours of driving and still not even 1/4 way across the state lmao. Or anything else just related to life in general, things you like, things you don't like, potential issues to watch out for?